Fewer people know that there was a time when iTunes music was also copy-protected by Apple's FairPlay DRM system. Apple did not release music sold in the iTunes store before 2009. If you purchased songs from the iTunes Store before 2009, chances are they were copyrighted.
Removing the DRM from these “old” songs from iTunes is the only way to polish and “fair play” them literally the way you want. Otherwise, you cannot play these iTunes songs on common music players except Apple devices, nor can you freely share iTunes music with your friends or other platforms. In the following post, we will present to you the 4 simplest solutions for DELETE completely iTunes music DRM .
Solution 1. How to losslessly convert iTunes DRM music from M4P to MP3?
Apple Music Converter is the ultimate solution to remove DRM from iTunes, whether it is iTunes music or Apple Music. It can remove DRM from iTunes songs and convert them to any popular format such as MP3, AAC, M4B and AAC. It works faster and easier than other tools, even if you are not computer savvy. By removing DRM from iTunes music with Apple Music Converter, you can freely enjoy all your iTunes music collections on any device.
Main Features of Apple Music Converter
- Removing DRM from iTunes Music Losslessly
- Convert iTunes songs to MP3, AAC, M4B, AAC
- Keep 100% original quality and ID3 tags
- Remove DRM from Apple Music and iTunes audiobooks
- Convert other DRM-free audio files
Steps to Remove DRM from iTunes M4P Songs with Apple Music Converter
Step 1. Add iTunes Songs to Apple Music Converter
Launch Apple Music Converter and click the "+" button at the top center to load iTunes M4P files from your library. You are also allowed to add the songs to the converter via drag and drop.
Step 2. Select Output Format
After the M4P songs are successfully loaded into Apple Music Converter, you can select the output format you want with Format button, as well as other settings, such as output folder, bit rate, channel audio, etc. Currently, Apple Music Converter supports MP3, M4A, M4B, AAC, WAV and FLAC output.
Step 3. Remove DRM from iTunes Music
Now click the "Convert" button and it will start converting DRM-protected iTunes songs to MP3 or other DRM-free formats at 30x faster speed. After conversion, you will get DRM-free iTunes songs, playable on any MP3 player without limits.
Solution 2. How to Burn DRM-Protected iTunes Songs to CD/DVD
Although Apple does not provide any way to directly convert protected iTunes music to MP3 format, it allows you to get DRM-free songs by burning them to a CD. Best of all, it doesn't require a special CD burner, as you can easily perform this task within the program itself. All you need is iTunes and a blank disk. Check out this tutorial and learn how to burn iTunes DRM music to CD using the iTunes app on a computer.
Step 1. Insert CD/DVD and Create Music Playlist
Launch iTunes on your PC/Mac. Then insert a blank CD or DVD disc into the computer's hard drive. In iTunes, select the file > New playlist . Add a name to the new playlist.
Step 2. Add iTunes Songs to New Playlist
Now select all the M4P music files you want to remove DRM from iTunes library and drag them to the newly created playlist.
Step 3. Burn iTunes DRM M4P Tracks to CD
Once the M4P songs are added to the iTunes playlist, right-click on the playlist and select the option Burn playlist to disc . iTunes then presents you with a dialog box where you can select the type of CD/DVD you want to burn. Make sure to select the option CD audio . Then it will start burning iTunes music to CD automatically as expected.
Step 4. Import iTunes Music from CD/DVD
The final step is to rip the songs you burned to an audio CD, turning them into digital music files. Just open iTunes, select the tab General of Edit > Preferences > and click on Import Settings . To start ripping the audio CD, you need to insert it into your computer's CD drive and click the button Yes to start.
Wait for a while until the tearing process is completed. Now all files imported into your iTunes music library will be freed from DRM, so you can freely transfer them to any MP3 device for playing without any limits.
Although Apple canceled digital rights management for songs purchased from iTunes after 2009, it continues to encode Apple Music songs with the same technology. If you need to remove DRM from Apple Music and burn songs to CD, you need to follow this tutorial:
Noticed : The downside of using iTunes to burn music to CDs is that it only allows you to burn the same song once. Also, if you have a lot of music files to burn, the process will take quite a long time. If you need to convert a large collection of iTunes songs more than once, we suggest you try the other 3 methods.
Solution 3. How to Remove DRM from iTunes Songs with iTunes Match
All songs in the iTunes Store are now unprotected files and in 256 kbps AAC encoding. Apple calls them iTunes Plus. But old iTunes songs that are DRM protected can only be played on iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple TV, HomePod, or up to 5 authorized computers. It is very difficult to play, sync or share these protected music tracks. To remove DRM from iTunes music, this method is to subscribe to iTunes Match. Here's how to subscribe to iTunes Match and how to remove DRM from iTunes music.
How to subscribe to iTunes Match
For Windows users: Open iTunes on the computer and click the Store button. Click the iTunes Match button. Fill in the invoice information and click the Subscribe button.
For Mac users: Open the Apple Music app. Click the iTunes Store button. Fill in the invoice information and click the Subscribe button.
How to find songs protected by iTunes
You need to find the protected iTunes audios. Click View > Show View Options. Next, choose the Type choice under the File section. Exit this window and click the Kind button in the header to sort the songs.
How to Use iTunes Match to Remove DRM from iTunes
Then we can start removing DRM from iTunes with iTunes Match. Go to the Music section and click on Library. Select protected iTunes songs. Delete protected songs using the Delete button on your keyboard. Then you need to download these songs from iCloud by clicking on the iCloud download icon. Now you get the unprotected iTunes songs.
Note : The whole installation, subscription and removal process is too complicated for many users. And you have to subscribe to iTunes Match, which is useless for many users.
Solution 4. Free iTunes Songs from DRM with iTunes Music Recorder
Another widely used way to freely enjoy your iTunes songs is to use third-party iTunes music recording software, like Audio Capture, to save the music tracks to GDR-free files. This iTunes music recorder is able to capture iTunes songs losslessly and remove DRM from iTunes songs while saving original M4P format to MP3 or other popular audio files.
Just follow these steps and start saving music from iTunes to DRM-free MP3 or other format with Audio Capture.
Step 1. Set Music Recording Profile
Launch the program on your computer. Then click "Format" icon at the bottom right corner, you can set capture parameters, like output format, music quality, codec, bitrate, etc. Currently, the available output formats supported by Audio Capture are: MP3, AAC, M4A, M4B, WAV and FLAC. Choose what you like and move on.
Step 2. Start recording iTunes music
Return to the main program window and select iTunes from the list of programs. There you can start playing any song on iTunes. You will then see a new recording task being created in the window's capture list. To stop recording, simply exit iTunes or stop playing the song.
Step 3. Remove DRM from iTunes Music
After the recording process is finished, click the "edit" icon of each track if you want to cut the audio tracks into small clips on average. You can also manage music ID3 tags, including cover photo, artist, music title, year, etc. Finally, click "Save" button to export the recorded iTunes songs to the direct output you want.
Conclusion
Among the 4 iTunes DRM removal solutions, solutions 2 and 3 are traditional methods. And solution 2 requires a physical disk to complete the process. Solution 3 requires subscribing to iTunes Match, which may be unnecessary for some people but costs you. The advantage of Solution 4 is that you can not only capture iTunes music with it, but also download any other audio streams to your computer. But it may still take a long time if your iTunes music library is huge. Additionally, there may be some quality loss during recording. On the other hand, solution 1 (Apple Music Converter ) provides better output quality and faster speed. And it is easy to use for non-technical users. And this converter can also convert Apple Music and Audible books to MP3.
In summary, using an iTunes music converter is definitely the best choice among all solutions to remove DRM from iTunes music.